The Thing About Moms....

After the trials and tribulations of Cote d'Ivoire - the confrontations with rebels, the religious revelations, remembering French again (or in Peter's case, comprehension issues), poisson brasse and Drogbas, and the relaxing coastal resorts - we were anxious to cross the border into Ghana.

Dan's mom, Elaine, is working for Doctors Without Borders in Uganda and, as we were roughly in the neighbourhood, decided to take her vacation with us. In Ghana. At a five-star resort. To quote Elaine, "I've been camping for 8 months. I see real Africa every day. We're not roughing it." Music to our ears.

Now you can't just dive headfirst into tranquility. Preparation is essential. After crossing the border, we decided to embark on a preparatory exercise and test our relax mettle at the Green Turtle Ecolodge. We are happy to report that the initial relax was an overwhelming success and, worries waylaid, we headed off to Elmina Bay Resort for the real deal.

Now close your eyes and imagine a windswept, deserted tropical beach. Coconut palms swaying in the wind, pool glittering in the late afternoon sunlight, a scantily clad waitress with a tray of...... wait! Your eyes are still open!

In any case, you get the picture. The resort digs were quite the change from our daily deal. Pizza vs. weird spaghetti, rice and sauce, pterodactyl wing combo plate. Warm shower vs. no shower or cold bucket shower. Flushing toilets vs. flushing toilets (long story but there is a big difference). Clean towels vs. mildew and iron-ore stained towels (we're sure we all still have towels in there somewhere). All of us in different beds vs. all of us in one bed. It was a splendid week and we left feeling recharged and ready to once again pile into 15 passenger vans with 20 other people.

In all seriousness though, the relative affluence of Ghana has been overwhelming and in stark contrast with the last three countries visited (Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cote d'Ivoire). There is a large middle class with fancy cars, clothes, and disposable income. Much to our delight, ATMs are everywhere. However, counter-intuitively, Ghana, with seemingly the least pressing need, appears to be the nation with the highest number of NGOs and ongoing 'development' projects. Our interactions with volunteers and practitioners have pitched us headlong into the African aid debate but we'll leave that for a different forum.

The beach is done and it's time to head inland. In fact, it's time to go to Togo. Indeed.

The thing about moms is they seem to be turning up in all the right places. Thanks moms. In the spirit of our new 'Leave No Mom Behind' initiative, we can't wait for the last stop on the Umoja tour - Victoria, BC, where, after high tea at the Empress Hotel, Deb Hartwick will lead us on a tour of their new kitchen. There will no doubt be tasty treats whipped up on the new stove.